Stanford knocks UCLA from ranks of unbeaten

STANFORD, Calif. — Don't count Stanford out of the Pac-12 race just yet.

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By The Associated Press

MailTribune.com

By The Associated Press

Posted Oct. 20, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Oct 20, 2013 at 2:40 AM

By The Associated Press

Posted Oct. 20, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Oct 20, 2013 at 2:40 AM

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STANFORD, Calif. — Don't count Stanford out of the Pac-12 race just yet.

The Cardinal's physical ground game and dominant defense — which disappeared in a loss at Utah last week — showed they can still shut down new-age offenses the old-fashioned way.

Tyler Gaffney ran for 171 yards and two touchdowns, and No. 13 Stanford smothered Brett Hundley and No. 9 UCLA 24-10 on Saturday with a physical performance on both sides of the ball.

"You hear the expression, 'Offense is your best defense.' You keep them off. They can't do anything," Gaffney said.

The Cardinal outgained UCLA 419 yards to 266, won the time of possession 37:11 to 22:49 and again made the big plays when it mattered most.

Kevin Hogan threw for 227 yards and a spectacular touchdown to Kodi Whitfield as the Cardinal (6-1, 4-1) regrouped the way they always seem to over the past four years. Stanford has not lost consecutive games since October 2009.

"It's been a staple of ours for some time now," Cardinal coach David Shaw said.

The Bruins entered the game averaging 45.8 points per game. That ranked second in the Pac-12 behind Oregon, which hosts UCLA next week before traveling to North Division rival Stanford on Nov. 7 in matchups that will likely decide the Pac-12's championship game.

Just as they slowed down Marcus Mariota and Oregon last season, Stanford hurried Hundley all afternoon to put the brakes on UCLA's up-tempo offense.

Hundley completed 24 of 39 passes for 192 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions by Jordan Richards — the second with a little more than 2 minutes remaining, leading to another Stanford touchdown that put the first blemish on UCLA's season. The Bruins (5-1, 2-1) have not started 6-0 since 2005.

"That was just a really difficult loss for this team," UCLA coach Jim Mora said. "We struggled to get things going the way we're capable of getting things going, and that's not like us offensively."

The Cardinal came out on top again in a rematch of last season's Pac-12 title game with a "back-to-basics" formula.

With UCLA's offense taking the field with 2:57 remaining, the Cardinal hurried Hundley into two incompletions before Richards dived for his second interception at the Bruins' 32-yard line after receiver Thomas Duarte fell down. Then Gaffney capped off a quick Stanford drive with a 4-yard TD run that put the game out of reach.

Arizona St. 53,No. 20 Washington 24

At Tempe, Ariz., Taylor Kelly accounted for 352 yards and four touchdowns, Marion Grice scored three times and Arizona State's defense bottled up Washington's Bishop Sankey in a win over the Huskies.

Arizona State (5-2, 3-1 Pac-12) has struggled against the run the past two seasons and Sankey entered the game as the nation's leading rusher at nearly 150 yards per game.

The Sun Devils flipped the tables with a dominating defensive performance, limiting Sankey to 22 yards on 13 carries while holding the nation's eighth-best offense to 212 total yards.

Grice ran for 161 yards and added to his nation-leading scoring total with a spectacular touchdown catch and two more scores on the ground.

Notre Dame 14 , USC 10

At South Bend, Ind., Tommy Rees threw two touchdowns before leaving the game with an injury and Notre Dame snapped a five-game home losing streak to USC.

Rees was 14 of 21 passing for 166 yards with TD throws to Troy Niklas and TJ Jones in the first half. Rees left the game when he was sacked by USC linebacker Lamar Dawson in the third quarter and didn't return.

USC managed just 121 total yards of offense in the second half. After converting both third-down conversions on their opening scoring drive, the Trojans went 0-of-11 the rest of the game.

Arizona 35, Utah 24

At Tucson, Ariz., Ka'Deem Carey rushed for 236 yards in a school record 40 carries, capping off his night with a 44-yard touchdown run with 1:30 left to play to seal Arizona's win.

B.J. Denker ran for two touchdowns and passed for another for the Wildcats (4-2, 1-2 Pac-12) in their first conference victory of the season.

Utah (4-3, 1-3), coming off its stunning victory over then-No. 5 Stanford, lost quarterback Travis Wilson with an injury to his right hand late in the first half. Backup Adam Schulz threw a 55-yard touchdown pass to Sean Fitzgerald to put Utah up 21-20 early in the third quarter after Arizona led 20-7 at the half.